All Chapters of THE STAR PLAYER IS HER EX : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

CHAPTER 21Miss Ashford picked up on the second ring, and Mara didn't waste a single second before diving in."They spent nearly the entire afternoon together. Killian couldn't take his eyes off the boy."Silence pooled on the other end of the line, long enough that Mara pulled the phone away from her ear just to check the call hadn't dropped.When Miss Ashford finally spoke, her voice came out chillingly even. "I warned you this day could come.""He doesn't suspect anything," Mara said quickly, her grip tightening around the phone. "Killian has no idea.""He doesn't have to suspect." A pause, cold and deliberate. "The truth has a way of revealing itself whether we're ready or not."The line went dead before Mara could respond, and she stood there a moment longer than she meant to, an unfamiliar chill settling into her chest that no amount of confidence could quite shake loose.Across the city, Killian drove home from the clinic with the radio off, his mind circling back to the same s

CHAPTER 23Killian's feet stopped moving before his brain caught up to why.He'd rounded the corner near the principal's office with a box of donated cleats balanced against one hip, half listening to the assistant beside him rattle off numbers about jersey sizes, when a small voice cut clean through everything else in the hallway."Mom... why doesn't my dad want me?"The question landed somewhere low in his chest, harder than any blitz he'd ever taken unblocked. He set the box down without really deciding to, his hands suddenly needing to be empty, needing to be free in case his body decided to do something his mind hadn't caught up with yet.Through the half open door, he could see them. Olivia on her knees on the tile floor, cupping Charles's face between both palms, her whole body curved protectively around him like she could shield him from the question just by holding him close enough."Listen to me, sweetheart." Her voice wavered, thin and careful, the sound of someone trying v

CHAPTER 25Nobody moved for a second. Olivia's mouth opened, no words came out. David just stood there, hands still in his pockets, looking like a man caught between two versions of the truth. Charles looked from face to face, confused. Adults weren't supposed to look this way at each other.Olivia found her voice first."He came to talk to me. About something from the past. That's all.""Something from the past." Killian's voice went flat. "How convenient.""Killian—" David started."Don't." Olivia cut him off fast, sharp enough that David actually stepped back. Her eyes flicked toward Charles, then back to David, a silent warning neither man could miss.Killian caught the look. Filed it away."What are you afraid he's going to tell me?"Nothing. Olivia had nothing.Charles filled the silence instead, tugging at her sleeve. "Mom, is he the man you told me about? The one who helped you when I was little?"Her heart stopped. Just stopped.David's jaw tightened. He understood exactly ho

CHAPTER 27The photograph on the screen didn't blink, didn't move, just stayed there showing her son asleep behind glass someone else had been standing on the other side of.Olivia's first instinct was to grab Charles and run. Get him dressed, get him in the car, drive until the city disappeared behind them.She didn't move.Running was exactly what someone wanted. Panic. Mistakes. She forced her breathing to slow, counted to ten, made herself think instead of react.She checked the front door twice. Deadbolt. Chain. She went window to window pulling curtains shut, fingers still trembling but steadier now, methodical. Then she went into Charles's room and, as quietly as she could manage, pushed his bed away from the window, toward the wall furthest from the street.He stirred halfway through, blinking up at her, groggy. "Mom? Why are you moving my bed?""Just being extra careful, baby." She kept her voice light, easy, nothing in it that would scare him. "You're too important for me to

CHAPTER 29"Who is Charles's father?"The question hung there. Olivia's mouth opened, no answer ready, when small footsteps padded up behind her."Mom, who's at the door?"Killian's whole face changed the second he saw him. Whatever hardness had been sitting there melted into something gentler."Hey, buddy."Charles grinned, backpack still slung over one shoulder. "I thought you were coming tomorrow.""Plans changed." Killian glanced at Olivia when he said it.She moved without thinking, stepping half in front of Charles, putting herself between him and whatever was about to happen next.Killian noticed. Of course he noticed."Why are you acting like I'm going to hurt him?""I'm not.""You are."Charles looked between the two of them, uncertain, sensing weather in the room he couldn't name. Then he brightened, remembering something, and darted back to grab the football off the couch."Look, I got this at the clinic. Killian signed it and everything. Want to see?"He launched into the